Close Quarters
by Lyrics2soul
Summary: R had dedicated his life to keep Julie safe. On the way back to the compound Julie discovers that she has deeper feelings for him but is terrified to admit that she has fallen in love with a zombie. Rated M because it's me writing it…lol.
1. Chapter 1

Close Quarters

Chapter One

The long ride was getting a bit too much for Julie. She wished that she could ask R to take over, but from her recent experience with him driving, she knew that he would make a few too many mistakes. Plus it was night time and his mistakes were made in the daytime. She wanted to arrive to shelter in one piece. The rain was bitter cold and she feared that she would catch pneumonia. '_Why couldn't the convertible work?"_ she thought to herself. All she wanted to see was the exit sign for the last evacuated town so they could have some type of shelter. R had a worried look on his face and was wondering if Julie was ok. He didn't feel that cold, though he did feel a slight change in temperature which he wasn't used to. Ever since he met Julie… well saved her life from being eaten from his friends, he felt a bit different. He couldn't really explain it. He just knew that it was something that he wouldn't complain about because it made him feel more alive. He always wanted to fell more alive and felt out of place wondering in the airport for years with his over active mind pondering over life and the need to feel connected to something… someone.

"J… Julie…. are you ok?" R asked with worry in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine R. We should be there soon."

"You're sh… shivering."

"I'll be ok R," she said not so convincingly."

R wanted to hold her hand but feared that his cold ridged hands may make her more uncomfortable. He wanted to comfort her and keep her safe. In fact he silently vowed that he would risk his so called life to keep her safe. He felt a strong connection to her that was indescribable. It was like he fell in love with her the first second he saw her welding a riffle blowing off his comrade's heads off. It was only a few days ago that they met, but they have learned so much about each other. Though R didn't have much recollection about his past, Julie felt as though she knew his soul. For a dead person he had so much life and purest intentions. He only ate humans to survive and somehow Julie came to understand that need. It wasn't his fault that he was turned into a monster. She honestly had compassion for him and wanted him to have a better life. She hoped that by some miracle her father would let him join the compound once he saw that he wasn't a danger. Julie knew that this dream of hers was a bit farfetched, but she was prepared to make a strong fight of it. R saved her life… her father had to take that in consideration. Julie made a big sigh once she saw the sign for their exit.

"We're almost there," she said almost stuttering from the cold.

"Yes, we need to get you wa… warm." R still was having a hard time not stuttering his words. It was still difficult for him to pronounce some things though he could say them perfectly in his head. He would stammer a bit here and there, but his speech had improved over the last few days since they met. R assumed it was due to practice since she was the only one in years that he talked to for hours on end.

Julie took her eyes off the road briefly and smiled at R. R returned a smile but feared that he looked silly. Julie thought that he looked adorable with his odd grin. Some of his movements were stiff and exaggerated. But to her they seemed adorable because he was trying his best. Seeing his silly grin took her mind off of the fact that she was soaking wet and starving for a moment.

"I hope that there's food in the houses so that you can eat," R said without stammering.

"I hope so too. Are you hungry R you haven't eaten in a while."

"I'll be fine. I just want you s… safe. Not like you're gonna let me snack on your brain," he said with a sly grin. Julie giggled. "No R, I'm not gonna let you eat me." Julie's cheeks blushed suddenly thinking about what she just said… though her thoughts were a bit dirty. R gulped while watching her cheeks fill with blood. It wasn't because he wanted to taste her blood… it was because he too pictured eating her out. They both cleared their throat simultaneously and Julie tried her best to concentrate on the road.

A few nights ago Julie started having dreams about R. She didn't know if it was because of the fact that he saved her life numerous of times, or because he was actually handsome under all that pale skin and scares on his face. She definitely thought his odd ways were charming and sweet… for a zombie. Well for anyone really. Julie never admitted to any of her sexual thoughts about him. Her life was in danger… wasn't the best time to bring it up. Besides the fact that she was human and he was _dead_. It just seemed crazy. Sometimes she wished that something magical would happen and he would just be human again. Any time she dreamed of them kissing or making out he was human…. warm... eyes not zombie dead. Tough _his_ silver eyes were eerily attractive. Julie guessed she just got used to them while gazing into them as they talked for hours during the last few days.

All of this was like a crazy long dream to her. But she knew it was real and copping with it was her biggest struggle. Julie just lost her ex-boyfriend Perry only a week ago. They just broke up a few weeks before their last mission to get supplies for the compound. He was the only guy her dad approved her to be with in the compound. Ironically he slept with someone else which broke her heart because she trusted him. Julie never told her father because he might have done something to harm him. Her father was a colonel and leader of the human survivors. He's a bit gun happy, so she kept the fact that Perry cheated on her to herself.

Julie started to grip the steering wheel tighter as she thought of the anger of trusting Perry. But she also missed him as well. They went to high school together and he was the first person that she ever had sex with. At one point she even thought that she loved him. Tears started to fill her eyes but it wasn't that noticeable because of the pouring rain. Julie didn't want R to worry about her so she tried her best not to wipe her tears away which was a normal reaction to do when someone cries. So much weight was on her all at once. She thought of all the family and friends that she lost over the last eight years because of the zombie outbreak. She was strong… had to be. Her father made it seem like she was weak if she cried about it. She almost became numb to it just to cope with everything. R looked carefully at Julies face and noticed a painful look that she was so desperately trying to conceal.

"Julie… are you ok? Wa… what's wrong?" R asked with true concern.

"I'm… I'm fine R. I'm just cold and tired. Can't wait to finally go to sleep."

"Oh… Ok."

R pierced his lips wondering if she was telling everything. He knew that she's been through hell and back. He just wanted to get her home safely. Even if that meant that he would never see her again. He just wanted her happy and safe. It wasn't like the compound was going to except him as a new resident. He hoped that would be an option but knew that it was just an unrealistic dream. R couldn't really blame Julie for holding a few things back. He felt a tinge of guilt as he thought of smashing Perry's skull in to eat his brains. He didn't have the heart to tell her yet that he was the one that killed Perry. Julie just knew that he died in the attack. It crossed her mind a few times if R was the one that ended Perry's life, but she also never had the heart to ask. More likely she didn't want to know. R had some of Perry's memories. That was a good and bad thing. It made him feel more alive as he ate him, experience his joys and hardships. R saw how amazing Julie was but also knew how hurt she was when she found out that Perry slept with Angela. He even knew that Angela could have been pregnant by Perry and that Perry was freaking out abo that. R knew that if he'd ever had a chance to be with Julie that he would never break her heart. He would be the most faithful and loving person.

R had his first dream since he was turned into a zombie the other night. It was an eventful experience to even dream because zombies don't sleep. He was excited to even experience sleep and dream for that matter, but he kept it to himself since the dream was about marring Julie and having a child with her. R didn't want to freak her out. _'Keep dreaming lover boy. No way in hell your dreams will come true,'_ he thought to himself.

Julie's eyes lit up when she saw the exit sign. It didn't take them that long to reach the deserted neighborhood. The rain had stopped as they were driving down the empty block. It was eerie with all of the houses in total darkness. The only light was from the headlights from the battered BMW that got damaged from their escape from the airport parking garage and the moonlight. "Thank God," Julie breathed as she pulled into a drive way of a home. R got out of the car and awkwardly walked over to her door to help her out. She watched him not sure of what he was doing. Once she saw that he opened the door and held out his hand realization washed over her face.

"You're such a gentleman R," she said smiling. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well I try to be." Julie giggled. "When are you going to stop shrugging your shoulders you big shrugger?" R was about to shrug again.

"Don't you dare!" she said laughing as she turned off the car.

"Ok… I…. I'll try to stop. It's a habit I g... guess."

The street was now only lit by the moonlight. Julie took his hand and he helped her out of the car. For some reason she couldn't look away from his sliver eyes. They looked like they were glowing. It didn't scare her one bit… just intrigued her because they also looked so kind. R held her hand as they walked up the steps. His hand wasn't as freezing cold as it was before but she didn't know what to think of that. She just figured that because her hands were freezing he felt different to her. R giggled the door knob and noticed it was locked. He kicked it in and Julie jumped a bit from the loud sound. R inhaled a few times to make sure that no one was in the building. "C… Come on. Let's get you warm and fed," he said looking back at her. Once they were inside Julie searched around and found an oil lamp. Then she spotted some candles and started to light them. The house was beautiful. Everything was modern and they had a huge big screen in the living room. Julie walked over to one of the family pictures that were on the wall. She raised her hand and touched it. Only a husband and wife were in the picture.

"I hope that they are ok," she said.

"I hope… so too."

R took a candle and walked to the kitchen and started to look for can goods. The pantry was filled with food. He started checking the expiration dates and all were ok to eat.

"Julie… come here. There's a ton of food to eat."

"I will R. I just have to get out of these clothes. Maybe the family left some here. I'll go upstairs."

"_I'll go with you,"_ he said quickly.

Julie giggled.

"What you want to watch me undress? You're a shrugger and a peeping tom huh?" she said playfully.

"N… No. I just wanted to check the house out more... make sure you're O… Ok."

A flash of heat radiated through her body as she imagined R seeing her naked. "Well ok… lead the way my great protector." R looked around awkwardly then started to head up the stairs. They went to the master bedroom. All the other rooms were just and office and an exercise room. Julie went straight to the closet to rummage through the clothes. She found a fluffy purple robe and laid it on the bed. Most if the clothes were about 4 sizes too big for her. She turned to look at R. It took a while for him to get the hint to look away. "Oh… Oh sorry," he said as he turned to face the wall. He started studying the wall paper to get his mind off of Julie's body that was going to be naked in seconds. Julie peeled off the wet clothes and laid them on the dresser to dry. She was wondering should she take off her panties and bra as well. They were cold as shit. With a deep sigh she started to take off her underwear. R desperately tried to ignore that he smelled her. He smelled her arousal before when she slept but tried to ignore it as much as he could. _That_ was masked with clothing; this time it was just her… out there. It was killing him and he wanted to turn around so badly. He never saw her naked before but had a vivid imagination of what she would look like. R made a big gulp as he waited for her to put the robe on. He was hungry but not in the _I need brains_ type of hungry. He couldn't get an erection because he didn't have any blood flowing through his body, but he damn sure felt horny. Julie quickly put on the robe but wished that he did see her naked. She knew her thoughts were silly. I mean… she would be like the first person ever to make out with a zombie. That just sounded ridiculous to her. What was even more ridiculous was that she was extremely attracted to him. '_God I need a psychologist_,' she thought to herself.

"Ok, you can turn around now," Julie breathed. Her cheeks were red because she was thinking of the fact that she was naked in the same room with R. She just had a dream about making love to him the previous night.

Julie looked on the night stand and noticed a Polaroid camera. She hasn't seen one of those in years.

"Oh look… a camera," she said as she picked it up. She turned it on and saw that there was still film inside. She turned to face R and took a candid picture of him which took him off guard. His eyes were wide because he was surprised and a bit startled.

"Oh I'm sorry R. I'll take another picture… just smile ok."

"Oh… Ok," he said with an awkward grin."

"It's important to preserve memories. Our minds can remember things, but it's nice to have the memory in a picture that you can look at whenever you want."

Julie took a few more pictures of R. R also wanted a picture of Julie. He had no clue if he would be able to see her again after he got her home safely. Having a picture of her would be the most treasured item that he would have in his plane if he couldn't stay with her.

"J… Julie… can I take a picture of you?"

"Oh sure R," she said with a smile.

Julie ran her fingers through her wet hair to try to tame it. R thought that she looked beautiful and didn't have to do a thing. She smiled and he took a picture. He pulled the film out and waited for it to develop in his hands. Slowly he saw her face appear. As he watched the picture developed he felt a strong sense of attachment to her. He dreaded that this picture would be the only physical thing that he would have left of her. R loved Julie and wanted to be with her for the rest of her life though he knew that his wish was unlikely. R's smile grew wider as the photo developed. "Let me see," Julie asked. R handed her the picture and she smiled. "I like this picture. I want a picture with the both of us," she beamed. Julie hugged R's side and he aimed the camera to capture the both of them. Once the picture was fully developed they both stared at it for a while in deep thought. "Hey… let's take another one. I want one for myself. You can have that one," Julie said. They took a few more pictures… this time with a variety of faces. Some were just smiles… then the others they took with exaggerated funny faces. It made R laugh out loud. Julie was only used to hear him chuckle here and there as they talked for hours during the last few days. This was the first time that she heard him laugh so loud. "I love your laugh R." R really didn't know what to say. After a few seconds he just said thank you. Hearing Julie say the word 'love' stunned him for a moment. Julie thought that R would want to change his clothes. There were clothes that looked that they would fit in the closet when she was looking for something for her to wear.

"R… there's some clothes in here too if you want to change. They look like they would fit."

"Oh… Ok," he said a bit dumbfounded. He's worn the same clothes since he was turned into a zombie… though he couldn't remember exactly when that was.

"I'm going to see if the shower works ok."

"Ummm…. O… Ok," R stammered.

Julie walked down the hallway to the bathroom with a candle. She checked the faucets and they all worked.

"Hey the water wasn't shut off… it works," she said excitedly. You can take a shower too when I'm done."

"Ummm… Ok?"

'_Hell when was the last time I took a shower?'_ R thought to himself. He smelled his underarm to see if he stunk. "I guess a shower would do me some good," he said in inaudibly.

Julie took a nice hot shower and let the water run over her body. She even got a bit excited that they used the same Dove body wash that she used at home. It's been days since she showered. R let her wash up in the plane with bottled water and soap from the bathroom. That was the best that she could do under the circumstances of killer zombies wandering around. She quickly washed her hair because she was a bit hungry. She heard her stomach growl and knew that she had to cut it short so that she could eat. After she stepped out the shower and covered herself with a towel she called out down the hallway to check on R.

"R…. you ok?"

"Yeah I… I'm fine," he called out from the bedroom. "Oh and I found some jeans and T-Shirt to wear."

"Cool… hop in the shower. I'm sure it will feel good."

R's eyes widened. Did she mean hop in the shower while she was still in there? Oh… that would be too perfect he thought to himself. He heard her tiny footsteps come down the hall. Julie stood at the bedroom door drying her hair with a white towel.

"I left the water on for you."

"Um… Tha… Thanks," he said awkwardly.

R tried to pass her in the door way. They were awkwardly bumping into each other as if they did not know which way to move. His movements were stiff and confusing due to the fact that he was more nervous than usual. Julie giggled then held both of his arms to keep him still. "Stay here and I'll walk past... ok. This can be done," she grinned. R nervously smiled back at her.

"I put a towel and wash cloth on the sink for you."

"Thanks Julie."

"No problem."

R walked to the bathroom and Julie sat down on the bed and placed her hand on her chest. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. "Great… I have a crush on a zombie," she said quietly. Julie finished drying off and looked for a pair of slippers. Luckily she found a pair that was under the bed. Strangely she couldn't help think of what R looked like in the shower. She knew that he had broad shoulders. He had a slim build but didn't know if he had abs or not. _'Seriously… what harm would it do if I made an excuse to go in the bathroom? _'_What would I go in the bathroom for… what would I go in the bathroom for_,' she thought to herself. Then it hit her. She didn't brush her teeth. She could just use her fingers if there wasn't a new toothbrush.

R was in the shower awkwardly washing his body with stiff moves. He never really paid attention to all of the bullet wounds that he had. To him they were equivalent to mosquito bites since he couldn't die from them. Only way he could be killed is if someone shot his head off. R shivered just thinking about it. He had a valid reason to live; to keep Julie safe and to get her home. Once that task was done… he didn't know what he was going to do with his life? _'Am I going back to the airport? At least M is there. My foreseen future is falling for a woman I can't have… then return to the drum life at the airport to eventually become a frickn' Bonny… great.'_ R snapped out of his daydreaming as he heard Julie's footsteps reach the bathroom door. "I just wanna brush my teeth… don't mind me," Julie called out. R instinctively covered his penis not knowing why since the shower curtain was closed.

"Sure… C… Come in," he said a bit too excitedly. _Fuck_… he cursed to himself as he noticed how it sounded. Julie stepped in the bathroom and looked around in the closet first to see if there were any new toothbrushes. Just her luck there were three.

"Hey, they have new toothbrushes. I'll leave one out for you too."

"Ok… thanks."

Julie opened both of them and started to brush her teeth. After she was done she realized how she could see his body and not be a creep about it. Maybe he needed help washing his back since he's stiff. I mean that was a valid reason. His first shower in God knows how long… she wanted to make sure that he was clean.

"Um… R?"

"Yes?"

"I'm willing to help you wash your back if you want. I know it may be hard for you to reach. I really don't mind."

'_Shit… shit … shit,' _R thought to his self_. 'Are you frickn' kidding me? She wants to wash me!'_

"R…?"

"Oh… Um yeah if you want," he tried to say as calm as possible though he was silently freaking out.

Julie opened the shower curtain and got the luffa sponge without looking down at his dick; though her peripheral vision saw it perfectly clear. All of a sudden she got really nervous but played it off well. It was long and huge to be flaccid. Julie could hear her heartbeat in her ears but tried to breath evenly to stay focused_.' I mean this man saved my life more than once. It shouldn't be such a hardship to wash his back right_,' she thought to herself. R just froze not knowing what to do. "It's ok R. I'm just going to wash your back ok." He shook his head yes quickly. Julie poured body wash on the luffa and looked up at his face. He looked nervous with his eyes wide open.

"Relax… ok,'" she said in a soothing voice."

"Ok," he said barely audible.

Julie looked down at his chest because she noticed some scares even though the bathroom was dimly lit with candle light. The scares were actually bullet wounds.

"Oh my God R! Are these…. were you shot this many times!?"

"Ye… Yeah," he said almost shamefully.

Julie ran her hands across his wounds as tears started to fill her eyes. She just imagined if R was killed and what that would do to her… even if she never knew him because she knew what a good person he was… despite his forced eating habits.

"Did they hurt?" she breathed.

"No… not really. _Dead_ remember."

"You're not dead," she snapped.

Hearing him say that just struck a nerve with her. She cared about him so much that reality that he was a zombie was hard for her to hear. He wasn't the norm… he was special…. he was her hero.

"Julie… I am dead. Corpse… Z… Zombie… whatever yall call me. Something crazy happened to me… and it s… sucks but it's what I am."

"You're more alive than some people I know. Don't call yourself dead. You're so much more than that. I care about you."

"I care about you too," he said with a sad smile knowing he couldn't be what he really wanted to be for her. R's heart beated one time. He didn't notice it, just as he didn't notice that his heart beated the first night that he was with Julie. Being around Julie was changing him… not just emotionally but physically. He was only aware of the emotional change.

Julie's eyes traveled down to his stomach as she noticed more scars. She started to wash him trying her best not to cry. R could see the pain in her face regardless and held her hand that was washing him.

"J… Julie, you're a good person. And I'm glad that I had a chance to know you in my life... well in my death."

"Stop saying that you're dead R," Julie's voice quivered.

R picked up her hand and led it to his lips and kissed it. "Ok… I'll stop saying that I'm dead... and _you_ stop trying to look at my junk," he said trying to make her laugh. It worked. "Whatever," she said laughing. Julie wiped a tear away with her free hand and sighed.

Washing R made her feel closer to him than before. She washed more than his back which was her original plan. Julie knew that it was a bit difficult for R to wash himself, so she also washed his arms, chest, legs, and face. It wasn't even sexual, though she did gaze at his tight ass for a brief moment and reveled at his six pack abs as she washed them. R felt at peace as Julie washed him. It took some time to get there though. The first few moments he was silently freaking out because she was touching him. He closed his eyes briefly because it felt so relaxing. He didn't really want to take his eyes off of Julie but it was a good thing that he knew every feature by heart… down to the small freckles that she had on her cheeks. R opened his eyes and looked into Julie's. She felt a chill go down her spine as he looked at her; he looked so sexy to her. _'Whoa… this is crazy. I can't feel this way about him,_ she thought to herself. Julie handed R the luffa when she was done.

"You can wash everything else," she smirked. Julie didn't have the guts to wash his dick and the crack of his ass; though she wanted to.

"Umm… O… Ok… I think I can handle that. Th… Thank you Julie... for everything," He said smiling.

"Thank you R. For Christ sake you've saved my life… more than once."

"Well… I ha… had to save you. Not that many zombies at the airport enjoy good… music."

Julie slapped his arm and shook her head. "A joker you are." R shrugged his shoulders on purpose. Julie rolled her eyes playfully and left the bathroom. He sighed. "Wow… that was amazing," he breathed. R looked down at his dick and started to wash it. He poked at it a few times a bit hopeful that it would react, but nothing. He figured he had to use Perry's memories of how he felt when he had se with her since he knew that being with Julie in that way was just a fantasy. Kissing Julie's hand in the shower was probably the only time his lips would touch her body. Yet he did notice she didn't pull away or seemed freaked out about it. Hope.

Julie was in the bedroom trying her best not to cry. All of this was too crazy for her to even consider. R was a _zombie_. Not an option to be her future… though she wished that he could be. She deeply sighed and went down stairs to see what type of can food was there for her to eat. She hated hearing R say that he was dead. She knew that he was different. But dead people don't ask in depth questions, or show so much emotion from just a simple look, or have profound feelings, have opinions, and defiantly don't save your life. Julie wondered if she could convince her father to let him stay in the compound once she proved that he wasn't going to hurt anyone. R needed to eat brains to survive. Julie wasn't that delusional. She thought that he could get used to eating the livestock that the compound was going to eat anyway. Her plan was to not be away from him at all cost. Julie thought that R's plan was to just get her home safety. R didn't know how exactly Julie felt for him. Little did she know that R felt the same way and wanted to be with her as well. Julie was terrified to even admit her feelings to R. It wasn't heard of for someone to fall for a zombie. The only falling people did was when they were about to be a meal.

R brushed his teeth around 10 times after he got out of the shower. He wanted to make sure that nothing was left in his mouth that would gross her out just in case he got lucky enough to kiss her. I mean kissing a human girl with reminisce of human brains could be a bit gross on her behalf. He also thoroughly flossed his teeth. He hated that his gums were a bit dark… but he couldn't do anything about that. He washed his mouth out with mouth wash and even put some cologne on that was in the medicine cabinet. _What am I thinking? I'm acting like I'm going out on a date or something. Julie is not going to kiss me. Just give it up. I'm not that lucky… to actually have her feel the same way as I do. I'm going to die all over again if she rejects me... so just keep it chill. Don't be creepy… don't be creepy. _

R joined her in the kitchen after he got dressed and had his long conversations with himself about yearning for Julie… which wasn't such a smart thing to do. But he couldn't help it. For all he knew... he was in love with her. Julie's eyes widen when she saw him in fresh clothes. He looked different… more handsome… clean, even looked like he had more color to his face. R noticed her expression and it made him feel a bit better.

"Wow… you really clean up nice," she said in awe.

"Thanks," R said with a big goofy grin on his face. _Tone it down, Tone it down._

"You wanna try eating some of this?" she asked as she pointed to the bowl of soup.

"No… I'll just get sick," R said as he joined her at the table.

"Oh. I feel bad that you haven't eaten. I mean… Umm."

"It's ok. I'll be ok. I just want to make sure that you get home safe."

"Is it… is it true that you will _die_ if you don't eat brains?"

"Yeah," he said shamefully.

"Have you ever eaten… animal brains before?"

"Sure… when humans are scar…" he stopped mid-sentence to not freak her out.

"You were about to say when humans are _scarce _weren't you?" Julie said grimly.

"We… don't have to talk about that Julie. I… I don't like the fact that eating people was a way I survived."

R had a flash back of the day that he saved Julie. He felt sick to his stomach to even think that she could have died that day if someone else got to her first. He started mindlessly shaking his head no.

"What's wrong R?"

"I just… I just. I was thinking of the day I saved you. I'm so glad that you… you were not hurt."

"I've thanked you so many times… and you've explained that you just wanted to protect me. Why was I the lucky one? Why _me_?"

"I… I don't know how to really answer that because I can't fully understand what happened. I mean… I guess seeing you… ch…changed something in me. I saw you and it was like something hit me… like I explained before… all I wanted to do was keep you s… safe."

"Ok," Julie said trying better to understand. "And I'm the only human that you did that for… not _kill_?"

R felt extremely guilty hearing her say the word _kill._ "Well… yes. You are the only person that I had no urge to kill at all. R started to fidget with his hands. _'I'm not going to tell you that I fell in love with you at first sight,'_ R thought to himself.

Julie wanted to know what was going through his mind the day that he saw her. But it looked like he wasn't going to admit everything.

"Well it's safe to say that we have some special type of connection," Julie said. "If we didn't I would be dead or a zombie."

"Yes… I guess you can say… say that."

Julie reached her hand out and grabbed R's hand. She wanted to kiss it like he kissed hers in the shower but he was too far away. She softly rubbed her thumb over his large pale hand.

"Thank you R," she breathed.

"You're welcome."

Julie yawned unexpectedly and her eyes watered up. She just realized how tired she was and wanted to lie down.

"Go to bed Julie… you need rest."

"Ok… you're coming upstairs with me _right_?"

"Oh… Oh sure."

"It's just that I'm used to you being in the same room with me. Plus you can lay down on the bed. I bet its way more comfortable than the seats in your plane."

R chuckled nervously thinking of them being in the same bed though they slept on the plane's floor near each other.

"It's ok R… the bed is big enough for the both of us."

"You know I don't actually _sleep. _You can have the bed and I'll just sleep on the floor."

R wanted to smack himself in the head. Julie just invited him to be in the same bed as her and he was trying to divert the idea because he would be too excited. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_ he chanted to himself.

"I… I would feel more comfortable if you were next to me R."

"Oh… Ok." _Thump Thump_. R's heart beat again without him aware.

Julie was happy that R agreed to lay down next to her in the bed. Since she was saved by R he has kept watch over her while she slept from only a few feet away. At first R watched her intently while reclined on a chair on the plane. When Julie became more comfortable with him R started to lay down next to her on the planes floor with a respectable distance. It would seem weird if she was far away from him now. They both stood up from the kitchen table and Julie took the candle with her. R followed her upstairs trying not to focus on her butt… but it was there and there was nothing else to look at. Once in the bedroom, Julie looked through one of the drawers and found a large T-Shirt to sleep in. She didn't feel like sleeping in the robe. Actually she didn't want to be that covered up next to R. Julie took the T-Shirt along with her panties and went in the bathroom. She washed her panties out and hoped that they would be dry by the morning. If they weren't it wouldn't be the worst thing. Julie slid the T-shirt in and noticed that it wasn't that long. It must have belonged to the woman of the house. She didn't mind that it showed most of her thighs. Her nerves started to get to her. This was the first time that they were going to sleep in the same bed. Though when they slept on the plane, they were only a few feet away as he watched her sleep every night. Julie took a deep breath and brushed her teeth again. It was silly that she thought that there was a chance that she was going to kiss a zombie that night... but she wanted to be prepared just in case.

R sat still on the bed in deep thought. He loved Julie and wanted to be with her in every way. He wished that he could make love to her one day that wasn't just in his dreams, but his dick wasn't working because he needed blood flow for that. Most importantly, he would need her to agree to be with a dead man. R wished that he was alive and not a monster so that he would always be a part of her life. This night may be the last that he could be with her. He was taking her home… a place where zombies weren't welcomed. As wonderful as he felt just being with her… he also felt great pain. He loved Julie… and she was not going to be his. He would be a fool to think that she would belong to him in this world. In his thoughts Julie was his. In his reality he was just a decaying body guard trying to get her home.

Julie slowly walked in the bedroom. R was already on the right side of the bed lying on top of the covers. His eyes widened once he saw her thighs. He tried to play it off but she noticed and it made a tingling sensation go down her spine. She took a deep breath as her nerves got the best of her. Julie slid under the covers and wanted him to be under the covers as well. She knew he didn't need them because he didn't get cold. '_I guess its best that he stays above the covers… then he won't make me cold. But I would really love to feel him closer to me,'_ she thought.

"Good night Julie… ta… try to get some rest… ok."

"Goodnight R."

Julie faced the closet away from R and hugged her pillow tightly. She was mad that she didn't do or say anything to let him know that she had feelings for him_. 'How could I become a punk now… when I'm sent on missions to gather things for my compound with 5 plus guns facing death every week. Why can't I just tell R that I want him? What's wrong with me?' _Julie let out a frustrated sigh.

"You ok?" R asked raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah… I'm fine. Goodnight R."

Julie turned over and without much thought kissed his forehead. His skin didn't feel ice cold but that didn't register with her yet, she was still in a bit of shock that she just kissed him. "Oh… oh?" R stammered in shock. It was the first time he felt her lips on his body. His heart made another beat without him noticing.

"Sorry… I just felt like doing that. Didn't mean to take you off guard."

"N... No. don't apologize. I liked it."

Julie bit her bottom lip as she pondered on kissing his lips. Would she be bold enough to do such a thing? What would she have to lose? She may desperately miss this man in a few days. This may be her only chance to kiss him.

"R?"

"Yes Julie?"

Julie was silent as she tried to gather her thoughts. R's body was tingling all over with excitement. He replayed Julie's forehead kiss in his mind over and over. _Thump thump_. R's heart beat again.

"J… Julie. I care about you so much."

"I care about you too R."

"All I wanna do is get you h… home safe. I don't know what will happen to me. I… I may never see you again." Julie's brows furrowed at the notion of not seeing R. "Julie, once I get you home… I will have to leave. They might kill… me. But I will make sure that you get home safely if it's the last thing that I do."

"R… there has to be a way that we can… stay together."

"I… I would love that. But… but I'm different. I don't belong in your… world."

"You do belong in my world R. I can have them see that you're different in a special way. Don't say that you'll never see me again," Julie said as she started to cry.

R sat up and pulled her up in his arms and held her close to his chest. "I… I don't want you to cry. Didn't you just say that if your father saw me he would kill… kill me dead at the first chance? I'm shh…sure everyone is trained like that Ja… Julie. It's just what it is. Trust me, I would love to be with you… and try to live a normal life. But look at me…." R looked down at himself and spread his arms out to display that he was a zombie.

"R…. don't give up like that. I…. I…" Julie wanted to tell him that she loved him but didn't know how to actually say it. She crawled on his lap and caressed his cheek. This time it registered that his skin was warmer than usual; it baffled her.

"What is it Julie?" he asked as he wove his fingers in her damp hair.

"Damit… I love you," Julie blurted out.

R couldn't believe what he just heard. He was stunned for a brief moment. Julie looked at his frozen expression not knowing what to expect. "R… I love you." He finally blinked. _Thump thump._

"Wow… I love you too Julie." He gripped her hair slightly and softly kissed her forehead.

R felt a painful jolt within his body as his heart took another strong beat. He had no clue of what was going on. But his mind was more focused on Julie snuggled in his arms pleading to be with him.

"Well then… trust me," Julie cried." We can be together. We have to be together. I want to belong to you."

R painfully chuckled due to her words and the confusion of what was going on with his body.

"You want to belong to a zombie huh?"

"No… I want to belong to R," Julie said as she moved in to kiss his lips.

R's heart took another strong beat. This time pumping more blood than the last through his body. The tingling sensation that he felt in his lions changed to a different sensation as he felt himself harden. His heart beat again and again. "J… Julie?" he called out. Julie jumped as she felt his dick getting hard from beneath her.

"Wha…" she said in amazement.

"Something's happening," R said alarmed.

"No shit!"

"No… I think my heart is beating," he said bewildered.

Julie pressed her head against his chest and heard his heart beating.

"Oh my God!" she yelled out. R… what the… how… your heart is beating. I hear it!"

"My wish came true," he whispered in awe.

R didn't want to take the chance if he was dreaming or not... or if this was real he didn't know how long it would last. "Julie… I want to make love to you," he breathed. Julie pressed her lips hard on his and positioned herself so that he could enter her. She didn't even hesitate about anything. She wanted him inside of her like the countless dreams that she had over the past few days. R took his hands and gently gripped her ass. His head was at her soaked entrance and he paused for a moment to look in her eyes. The room was dimly lit from the candle light but he saw the love that she had for him. With his first stroke she moaned out load and buried her head in the crook of his neck. "Oh God," she called out as she realized that he was much bigger than Perry. Julie held tight to R's body and she felt the heat of his skin as his blood flowed through his body. His touch was so warm. Every part of him was now the same temperature as her.

R made love to Julie as if it was the last thing that he would ever do. He was so loving and gentle when she needed him to be…. and urgent and dominant when she begged him to take her.

"Oh my God… Oh my God," she moaned in his ear as he started to move faster.

"Julie," R moaned.

"Yes… Oh my God you're gonna make me come!" she yelled out.

Julie grabbed his shaggy hair and held on to him tight. R rubbed his fingers on her clit and it drove her crazy. "God R!" He wanted to taste her so he brought his fingers to his mouth. "Oh my God Julie, you taste… so good." he moaned. Julie took off her T-shirt and R took his other hand and guided her breast putting it inside his mouth. She squealed as she felt his tongue run circles around her nipples. At this point R couldn't believe that he was actually making love to Julie. He couldn't fathom how his heart was beating and how his body was now covered in sweat as the woman he loved quivered in his arms as she came on him. '_This has to be a frickn' dream.'_ Instead of analyzing everything, R decided just to live in the moment.

They both lost track of time because time didn't matter. Julie lost count on how many times she came. When R came it was one of the most beautiful experiences she ever felt. She yelled out, "I love you," as he came inside her. Sweat poured from both of their bodies as they gasped for air. R was truly alive. Julie was truly alive.

"I don't want this to be a dream," Julie murmured out of breath from her orgasm.

"I don't want this to be a dream either. Don't know how to explain it… but… your love brought me back to life."

"Wow… R…. I… I love you."

"I love you too Julie," R Panted.

They held each other in their arms just listening to their breath and heartbeats. Neither one could explain what happened. Everything was a mystery anyway. From the outbreak… to how R was so different from the others. He was special and in some weird serendipity way… they were supposed to meet that day. If being loved was the key to cure the disease, maybe it was hope for others. R's friend Marcus helped them escape and he didn't want to harm Julie... so all zombies weren't destined killers. Julie felt the warmness of R's skin against her cheek. She wanted to stay this way for hours. She felt comforted as R gently rubbed her back. He slid his hand down and started to rub her ass. She felt his dick getting hard again from inside her; he had never left. She clinched her pussy on him and he made a sexy groan.

"Question… do you still have the urge to eat my brains," she giggled.

"I never had the urge to eat your brains. From the day I met you my sole purpose was to keep you safe. But there is something…. well something else that I would love to eat of yours."

"I wonder what that would be?" Julie said with a smirk.

R shrugged his shoulders; this time he did it on purpose and not absentmindedly.

"Lay down and I'll show you Ms. Grigio."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Julie was afraid to open her eyes. She prayed that last night wasn't a dream. R was wrapped around her in a spooning position. She didn't feel coldness from his body so that was the first sign that it may have been real. That for some magical reason R was no longer a zombie... but a living man; a man that loved her. Julie's eyes started to tear as she thought of finally being home and having R with her. She didn't want to start crying but the feeling was overwhelming. She made a broken breath which made R stir in his sleep. She didn't want to wake him up so she tried her best not to let the sob that was building come out and escape. R opened his eyes when he felt Julie quiver as she breathed.

"Julie… you ok?" he breathed.

"Yeah R," she said with her voice breaking.

"You're crying, what's wrong?"

Julie turned her body so that they were facing each other and placed her hand on the side of his face. She loved that his cheek was warm. She also was amazed on how more handsome he was. The bedroom was flooded with sunlight and he looked like a model. R's completion was normal and some of his scars were healing. Julie gazed in his eyes that were now a piecing light grey. _'__Holy crap'_, she thought to herself. R didn't know what she was going to say. He was fearful that she thought that making love was a mistake. "Wow… you're so beautiful," Julie breathed. R smiled while gazing in her eyes.

"I'm just a little overwhelmed about everything," Julie said. "I'm happy. Trust me I'm happy. This is like… some kind a miracle or something. Wow, It will be a relief to finally get home… and… and we can actually _be_ together." Julie's voice cracked. She was so emotional and dazed.

"Yes, I can't wait 'til you're home too."

"R… do you think it's possible that _others_ can change back like you did?"

"I… I don't know? I hope so. And I can't even… think of how this happened… and to _me_. Hell… what if love was really the cause of this change? Only ones that are willing to feel will probably have a chance of changing."

Julie continued to stare at R in amazement. She noticed how clearly he spoke now without stammering. She couldn't believe in what she was hearing or seeing. R smiled at her as he noticed her loving glare. Then it dawned on him as well that he wasn't stuttering that much. "Oh Wow Julie," he said in awe. Then he started counting as fast as he could and got excited that he didn't skip one beat.

"R," Julie called out in amazement. "Baby, you're not stuttering anymore," she said with the biggest smile.

"Wow," he breathed.

"Oh my God… R there's a chance that we can cure some of the ones that were affected in the outbreak. Once we get home and things get settled... I'll let my father know that there may be a cure."

"You think… well you think that he will believe it?"

"Not sure. But if there is a cure… there will so many lives that we can... I guess _bring back_."

R kissed her forehead and tried to remember anything from his past before he was turned… still nothing. _'__I still don't know my name. Was it … oh hell what's the use? I kinda like R. I love the way Julie sounds when she says it. Shit the way she moans it.' _The both sighed and held each other tightly in their arms. R kissed the top of her tasseled hair.

"I love you Julie."

"I love you too R."

R pulled Julie closer to his warm body and held her tight. He still couldn't believe that all of this was true. He knew that the dream that he had the other night felt real but then again it had a surreal edge to it. This was too perfect... too crisp. Was it real? Julie rested her head on his chest and gently smiled as she felt the vibration of his heart beating and heard it pumping blood throughout his body.

"Wow," she breathed.

"What?"

"Mmmm... you. How warm you are. Your chest vibrating because of you _heart,_" Julie said chocking out the last word.

"I'm still kinda… well I'm still…"

"I know R. Just let it be and be happy."

"Well I'm definitely happy," he said while he kissed her lips softly.

R thought that this would be a good time to tell Julie what happened to him the second that he saw her. But he didn't want to bring up the memories of all the other things that happened in that moment. Like the fact that her other friends were killed and eaten by the other zombies.

"What are you thinking about R?" Julie asked as she noticed the complex look on his face.

"Um… well." He sighed. "Last night you asked me why did I choose you to save."

"Yeah… and you told me that when you saw me… something in you changed."  
"Yes… that is true. It was… well… also the first second that I saw you…"

"Yes?"

"Well… It may sound corny but I fell in love with you."

"Really? You fell in love with me the second you saw me?"

"Yes… that's what it felt like. Does that creep you out?" _Oh please don't let that creep you out._

Julie had to think about that for a moment. She knew that people were known to fall in love with someone at first sight. '_But that's mostly lust and physical attraction since people don't know each other by just looking at them. But mom said that she fell in love with dad the first time that she saw him. R really fell in love with me just by looking at me? Wow,' _she thought to herself.

"It creeps you out doesn't it?" R asked as he noticed it was hard for her to answer.

"Hmmm… a zombie falling in love with me the first second he saw me. Well R… Um… well I don't think anyone fell in love with me the first time they saw me?"

"How would you know if they never had the guts to tell you?"

Julie started to shrug which was really ironic.

"I'm just me - "

"The most beautiful thing in the world," R said cutting her off.

"You think I'm beautiful?"  
"I know you're beautiful… all of you."

"Thank you."

R gently smirked at her.

"You remember everything as a zombie right… since you remember seeing me for the first time."

"Yeah."

"Do you remember your name?" Julie asked hopeful.

"No… crazy but all that is still all gone. I don't remember who my parents were... what I did as a job. For all I know... I could be a mature looking seventeen year old."

They both started to chuckle.

"Trust me… you're a man," Julie said once she stopped laughing.

"Ok… I'll just have to take your word for it."

Julie started to reminisce about last night and how R made her feel as he made love to her for hours. R started playing in her hair as he was amazed that she was actually his. He leaned over and kissed her lips then letting is tongue slide deep in her mouth. Julie made a sexy grown that instantly hardened his dick. R rolled on top of her and started to kiss and gently suck her neck. All of this came natural to him and it turned Julie on so much that she was soaked in seconds.

"R," she moaned.

"Yes."

"Oh my God. I need you inside me right now."

R didn't hesitate to push himself inside her. He groaned as he felt the friction of her hot body enveloped his dick.

"Oww," Julie moaned.

"Am I hurting you?" R breathed

"No… no," Julie panted. "It feels… so good. Fuck me please."

R responded to her request and pounded himself into her making the bed squeak and bang against the wall. He couldn't get enough of her and was amazed on how good each stroke felt. He kept at steady rhythm which made Julie's moans grow stronger and stronger. Every nerve ending was alive and he even relished in the sensation of having sweat roll off the tip on his nose. Julie's moans brought him back to the moment and he found her shivering under him. He could feel her pussy contract on his dick as she came; multiple orgasms to be precise. R wanted to last longer but he couldn't and came soon after Julie did. He lasted way longer the other night yet was completely satisfied that he made her come back to back and that his orgasm was so fulfilling. He loved the fact that he could feel the vibration of his heart beating a mile a minute from the exertion of fucking her. R gently rubbed the side of her face as she tried to catch her breath. Once her breathing settled he pulled her in for a kiss and gently bit her lip. It took both of them a while to steady their breathing. R had his eyes closed as he caressed Julie's arm. Julie felt weak and wondered if she even had the strength to stand or drive back to the compound. Having R caress her wasn't helping much… it was actually putting her back to sleep but she knew that they had to get ready to head back. There weren't out of complete danger yet, though the moment felt so relaxing it made her forget about her troubles for a while. R was daydreaming about the dream he had a few days ago where he married Julie and they had a baby together. His thoughts seem so unrealistic then. Maybe his wish would come true one day_. __'Hmm… nice thought.' _He knew from Perry's memories that she wasn't on birth control and he pulled out before he came._ '__I wonder if what we did actually made a baby? Shit, will she love me enough to one day be my wife? Just take it one day at a time lover boy. I just know that I will never hurt like Perry did; that bastard. I vowed to keep her safe. I will also add to that never hurt her in any type of way. I love her so much,' _R thought to himself.'

Julie kissed his chest and opened her eyes. She realized that she was getting hungry and they should get ready to head off home.

"Julie?"

"Yes R?"

"Um… are you on... um birth control?" He knew the answer but wanted to hear it from her.

"Ahh… no," she answered a bit baffled. "Not that much in stock where I am. Medicine and things like that are scarce. Perry and I just used the rhythm method."

Julie's head started to hurt thinking about her friends that she lost while looking for supplies and medicine while they were attacked. She also thought of Perry being killed. It was a ball of mixed emotions. She missed him and grieved his death. She was also mad at him before his demise, she could forgive him for not being faithful. Death is way greater than cheating. R noticed the tension in her face and was starting to worry if Julie was freaking out because she could have gotten pregnant from what they just had done.

"Honey, everything will be ok."

"Oh… it's not that R."

R placed his hand over Julie's heart like he did that night in the plane when he was trying to show her that he felt compassion for what she was going through. That action brought a tear to her eye. She embraced R in a hug. '_Oh my God what if I did just get pregnant.' _R didn't want to rush anything out of her. He would give her time to express whatever she was thinking. R was patient. He didn't remember if he was patient in his former life as a non-zombie. But spending days on end basically with life going by in slow motion… he grew a tolerance for time.

Julie's head started to spin a bit. She didn't know if she was scared or not due to the fact that she could have gotten pregnant. Though in reality she could have gotten pregnant many of times by using the rhythm method because it wasn't full proof. This was the week that no sex was allowed because she would have been ovulating around this time. Of course that didn't cross her mind when she made love to R last night and that morning. All she wanted to be was close to him and she was too happy of the fact that he was cured and that he loved her_. 'Clam down Julie… I'm sure everything will be ok. Even if I did just get knocked up… everything will be ok.'_ Julie wanted to tell R about Angela, but she really didn't want to have to deal with that type of drama anyway. Angela knew that she was dating Perry. It was both of them that made the decision to do what they did. They both didn't care if Julie was hurt. Julie was looking forward to finally arriving home, but she wasn't looking forward to seeing her. Julie never told Perry that she spoke with her about what happened, and that Angela was trying to make it seem that she was late and possibly pregnant. Julie figured that she would just let them discuss that and she would stay out of it. Julie didn't need Perry to not have his mind clear when they went out on their missions. Not to say that Julies head was 100% clear either… she just blocked it as much as she could.

"R… we should get ready to go."

"Ok… you wanna eat something first."

"A little. Hey do you wanna eat something?"

"Wow… it never crossed my mind that I might not get sick from eating food now."

"Well come on."

Julie sat up to get out of the bed and R reached out and gently grasped her hand. She turned to face him to see why he stopped her.

"Julie… I just don't want you to worry if… you know… anything happened. You know with us having sex."

"R… we have so many things to worry about now. Let's not worry about that just yet… ok."

"Ok."

They both washed up and got dressed. Julie noticed that some of her muscles were a little bit achy from the positions they were in but she didn't say anything about it. Then they headed down stairs to the kitchen and opened a few cans of food. Julie's gaze was frozen on R the first few bites that he took. She was hoping that it would be easy for him to adjust to. It was the first time that R had food besides brains in a while. He didn't know if anything would happen being as though he only ate brains for who knows how long. '_Ok… hope this goes well,'_ he thought to himself. R's eyes lit up when he tasted the food though it was cold. He didn't get sick so that was a good thing. After they both finished eating they went to look around the house to find any weapons that they may need. Julie hoped that they would be able to get all the way to the Green Zone without seeing any zombies. Julie found two aluminum bats and R found a crow bar in the garage and collected all the large knives in the kitchen. They both grabbed coats from the closet and headed out to the car. The sun was peeking from the clouds. Julie's nerves were starting to get to her because this was the last challenge that they had; to make it home.

The car smelled a bit funny from being damp but it didn't bother Julie that much. She looked at the gas and noticed that it was getting low. _'Shit... we can't run out of gas.'_ Julie wanted to gun it the entire way but chose to coast here and there to save some of the gas.

"We're almost there R. Fuck I hope we don't run out of gas before we get out of the Dead Zone."

"_Dead Zone?"_

"Yeah… that's what we call… well any area that's not surrounded by walls and protected."

"Oh."

R remembered Perry's memories of how they used to sneak out. It was killing him that he was hiding the fact that he was the one the killed Perry. He didn't want to lose Julie and feared that she would hate him for it… even though she had an understanding that he only ate brains to simply survive when he was a zombie.

"It's not that far… so we should make it." _We have to make it. _

"I'm not gonna let anything hurt you," R said. And he truly believed that.

R took her hand and squeezed it. Julie knew that he had the best intentions of making sure that she was safe. But she was still a bit scared because they didn't have any guns. Sure together they could probably take out one or two zombies, but if they were in a pack… their fate wouldn't be so good.

"They have very heavy security where I am," Julie said. "And everyone is tested to see if they are infected before they come in."

"Um… how do they do that?"

"A simple eye scanner."

"Oh. Um… what if…"

R didn't want to think of it because he was so elated that he wasn't a zombie anymore. But he thought that what if everything wasn't quite yet out of his system yet and it scared him. He didn't remember how long it took for him to change into a zombie once he was infected. So he wasn't sure how long it would take him to be completely considered… human… and alive. _'Oh shit… what if I infected Julie somehow. Fuck!' he thought to himself. _

"Don't worry R," Julie said as it brought him back to the moment. "If love is the cure… than you have your cure sitting right next to you. I love you."

"I love you too Julie," he said with his voice almost quivering.

"What's wrong?"

R clinched his jaw. He didn't want to scare the shit out of her by saying that he could have infected her to cause her to slowly turn into a zombie. Hell, he couldn't even remember his sexual past at all for that matter. He inaudibly groaned thinking of the worst. "R?" she said with worry.

He took a deep breath and looked at her. She looked at him for a few seconds but knew that she had to keep her eyes on the road.

"I… I was just thinking… what if I still have something that could be detected with whatever test they use?"

"Oh don't worry about that… I'm sure you're fine R."

"But no one really knows what happened with the outbreak. You said it yourself that it's a big mystery. Who knows how long it will take to truly be out of my system?"

"Well… Wa… Well. At least we know it doesn't take long to _become _one. When you walked me back to the airport with the other zombies… they believed that I was one only a few minutes after they thought you bit me."

R made a deep sigh then started rubbing his forehead. "Don't worry Baby… everything will be ok," she said reassuringly. He wanted to believe her… also he didn't want to freak her out at the moment that it may have been a slim chance that he affected her. But his worry felt like it was eating him alive.

"Julie… what happened when people are detected with the virus when they try to get back into the compound?"

"Oh… Ahh… Well. They aren't allowed in. Especially because they had no clue of possible cures."

"Oh."

"As I said before R… don't worry. You are a living miracle… have more faith," she said while smiling at him to ease some of his tension.

"I really love you R," she said while she took her eyes off the road for a moment to look at him.

He gently smiled. Hearing that she loved him made him feel better. R started to have more hope… more faith. If anything he started to believe that Julie's love will cure anything that was done to him. Julie smiled back at him and moved a piece of hair behind her ear that was blowing in the wind.

They were both silent for a while as she drove to the compound. R remembered the walk from the lab to the airport and wondered if it was a hardship for Julie. It was a simple walk for R when he was a zombie and he never got tired. He collected all types of things. That was the first time that he collected a person. But it was more than just a simple interest in an object to have in his collection of things in his airplane. R literally fell in love the first second that he saw Julie. He wanted to protect her and that was the only thing he could think of at the time. She would have been attacked if the other zombies didn't think that she was turned. R was thankful that he made that decision. Not only did he save Julie's life… in a sense he saved his own.

Both Julie and R glanced at the fuel level a few times during the ride praying that there was enough gas to get them to their destiny. Julie started to grind her teeth as she looked at the fuel get lower. _'Please… just give me this,'_ she internally begged. The fuel light came on and her heart felt like it jumped out of her chest.

"What is it?" R asked alarmed.

"Uuuhhh…. We're defiantly almost out of gas. The fuel light just came on."

"Doesn't that mean we have at least forty miles left?"'

R shook his head because it startled him that he would remember such a detail but couldn't remember his name or family.

"How do you know that's how many miles we would have left?" she asked

"I have no clue… it just came to me."

"Ok… ok… we can do this. We can probably make it. If I just coast a little bit more we can do this."

Julie started to bit her bottom lip and squeeze the steering wheel tighter. She didn't want to panic and wanted to keep her calm. The car could go faster than Zombies… and possibly the Bonnies. But if it couldn't move at all they were basically fucked.

"Hey… I can drive if you want?" R offered. Julie huffed remembering how many small crashed he did while practicing in the airport.

"No…. I got this."

"Come to think of it… we should have just left while we were practicing," R nervously chuckled. "We would have had more gas if we weren't joy riding."

"Well you should have mentioned that back then," she nervously laughed.

"As I recall… my vocabulary wasn't that good… and I was just so happy to have you as company. Sorry I wasn't thinking clearer." R smirked the side of his mouth in disappointment of himself. "I'm sorry Julie."

"Oh… no… R I'm not blaming you. I'm just really overwhelmed right now. Honey… we're gonna make it. _Faith_ remember."

"Ok… faith. Got it."

R leaned over and kissed her temple and told her that he loved her. Julie replied the same then her concentration was totally on the road and how often she pressed the gas and costed at a good speed.

The car made it only a few blocks from the large wall before it started to make puttering noises. Then after a few loud gurgling sounds the engine conked out and the car rolled to a stop.

"Oh my God," Julie murmured under her breath.

"We're gonna be ok," R said as he gripped his crow bar tighter in his hand.

R had told Julie countless of times that he was going to keep her safe. He did a mental check of all the weapons he had stashed in his clothes. He was ready for war to protect the woman that he loved. They both got out of the car with multiple items that would help them fight off any zombies. Julie gripped her bat with the hope of not having to use it at all. They could see the high wall from where they were. It wasn't that much of a long walk. But what could happen within that short walk was the thing that had goose bumps on both of their skin. Both looked around cautiously as they walked closer to the walled city. Every tiny sound caught their attention. Julie's hand was starting to shake. _'Keep it together. Fuck we're almost home,'_ she thought to herself. What took around 10 minutes felt like it was hours just from the intensity of having the fear of being attacked. They made it around the corner to see the guards on post. A guard yelled out to them to identify themselves. "It's me Kevin. Julie!" she yelled out.

When they got closer Kevin looked a bit relieved. Julie was his girlfriend's Norah's best friend, so he had true concern. His girl has been a wreck for days thinking that she may have been dead or turned.

"Teams were sent out to look for you," Kevin said like a worried parent.

"I'm fine. He saved me," Julie said as she gestured in R's direction.

Kevin glanced at R quickly. He didn't recognize him as anyone on the teams that gathered supplies and he found it interesting that he survived in the Dead Zone. He thought that it may have been possible that he was from a compound really far away.

"Well… I still have to check both of you to see if you're infected. It's protocol."

"I understand completely about protocol. I am the Colonel's daughter."

Kevin smiled and gently chuckled… but still feared what would happen if she tested positive. 'Damn… I hope Julie's ok. If not… shit. They would cut off her fucking head. Oh my God… I can't even think of that,' he thought to himself. Kevin placed the scanner in front of Julie's eyes and it beeped and turned green. He sighed in relief.

"You're cleared. Thank God the Colonel and Norah have been a mess."

"Norah's ok?" she murmured. Julie basically accepted that everyone else on the mission was killed. She witness a few with her own eyes but so much was going on she didn't know if others escaped. She definitely heard Perry's voice screaming for his life then abrupt silence.

"Yes, Nora is fine. Worried as hell about you… but she made it back ok. All the others…"

Kevin looked down with a tinge a grief and relief since Nora was someone special to him. She was the only one who made it back from that mission. Now he could add Julie to that tally. Kevin made another deep breath and looked at R.

"I have to check you too Sir."

"Oh… Ok."

R got a bit nervous thinking that the scanner may detect that he was at least once a zombie. Kevin placed the scanner in front of R's eye and it beeped but turned red making a different noise then when it beeped for Julie. Then it turned green a second later with the same tone that meant that he wasn't infected. R felt like he was frozen. He didn't know what to expect. _'__Oh shit… Oh shit,'_ he thought.

"What the…" Kevin said a bit baffled.

"Must be something wrong with it," Julie said. "He's fine... and I'm famished. Please let us in Kev."

The large metal door to the wall started to make pinging sounds as it creped open. Julie's father appeared at the entrance.

"Is she cleared?" her father called out.

"Yes sir," Kevin answered.

Kevin still wanted to check R again. The scanner never acted up before. He watched Julie run into her father's arms then glanced back at R. R's facial expression showed that he was happy and on the verge of tears. Something in Kevin's heart just decided to chalk it up to the device acting up. His emotional side over shadowed his extremely precise and careful soldier side. He decided that he just had to swap out his scammer for a new one.

"Dad! I'm so happy to see you." Julie burst out in excitement as her father lifted her up in his arms and spun her around.

"Julie… thank God that you're ok. I was worried sick about you. Nora said that you were taken away by zombies at the lab."

"I'm ok Dad. R saved me," she said as she turned to R.

Mr. Grigio looked over towards R.

"Thank you son," he said as he walked over to shake his hand. "I owe you my life for bringing back my Julie."

"Oh, you're welcome sir."

"R… huh?"

"Yeah… parents were a bit sarcastic," he nervously chuckled.

"Well come on let's get inside. Thank you again. Whatever you want if it's in my power… you have it."

R gently smiled. The only thing that he wanted was Julie_. __'Hopefully you won't totally freak out when I ask for your daughters hand one day,' _R thought to himself.

They all walked inside the Green Zone. R sighed a big relief when he heard the shut of the large iron door. Julie took R's hand and looked up at him.

"We're home R."

"Yes."

ooooOOOOoooo

When they arrived home Julie made a sigh of relief. R noticed that her home was fancy compared to the homes that they passed to get there in the Hummer. Julie's father was the leader of the survivors, so he was in a sense presidential. After R was thanked a numerous of times and Julie was welcomed back with hugs and kisses including her best friend Norah, they just wanted to relax. Julie felt mentally tired and felt like she would fall out at any moment. Julie's father knew that she had been through hell and also wanted her to have some time to herself. Mr. Grigio announced that his daughter needed to rest and all of their company soon left. Norah just went to her bedroom since she lived there.

"Thanks dad," Julie said exhausted.

"You're welcome. You guys need to relax... you must be hungry. I'll have Laura make you something."

"I should be… but I'm not. I'll eat later. I guess it's all of the excitement of finally being home."

"You should really get something… even if it's light. You're probably malnourished. _Actually… _this is a direct order instead of a request young lady," he said with a slight grin.

"Ok… ok... dad. I'll get some fruit or something. "

"Thank you." He looked at R with a stern look. "And you're getting something to eat too. I'm the law around here."

"Yes sir," R said with a smile. He wasn't that really hungry because all of the excitement and nerves, but he didn't want to disappoint Julies father or have him worry in any sense.

Julie knew that R would be welcomed to stay there for the night but she wanted her dad to allow R to live with them. Their house was big enough, it was practically a mansion.

"Hey dad… is it possible if R could _live _here?" Julie asked hopeful.

"Yes, I can agree to that. He saved your life. R you're welcome to stay here as long as you want."

"Oh thanks dad!"

Julie smiled ear to ear. R was a bit shocked that he was now living with Julie.

"Thank you sir. I well definitely earn my keep," R said as he shook Mr. Grigio's hand quickly with excitement.

"Son, you have earned your stay. Whatever is in my power… just _ask._"

"Yes sir."

"R you can stay in one of the guest rooms."

Julie's father patted R's hand with his free one giving him a sign that he could let go. R was so giddy that he would have shook his hand for five minutes straight.

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." R was so happy and excited he didn't know what to do with himself.

"Now you guys go get something to eat on the double."

"Ok," Julie said still a bit in awe that R was now going to live with her.

Julie tried to shake off the daze because she couldn't believe that all of this was real and that she was home… and R was towering by her side. She quietly chuckled to herself in amazement. Both R and her father looked at her to see why she quietly laughed. She looked up and finally realized that she laughed for them to hear her.

"What is it Bab... Julie?" R asked. He was about to call her Baby in front of her father. Mr. Grigio noticed the slip and left eyebrow went up. R could feel his body heating up in embarrassment… or just fearful that her father would react in a negative way. It's impossible for me to feel _embarrassed that I love her,' he thought to himself. _. Maybe when R was a zombie he felt odd or scared that he fell in love with her.

Julie cleared her throat and softly smiled. She felt her cheeks getting red.

"Soooo… where's the kitchen? That fruit is sounding good about now," R said to break the awkward moment.

"Oh it's this way," she said almost urgently. "I'll give you a tour of the rest of the house later. Right now I'm kinda beat."

"That ok."

Julie and R headed off to the kitchen. He could still feel his heart beating hard in his chest for the name slip. For the past day he's been calling her Julie or Baby. And he kinda got used to the idea of calling her Baby since she now felt like she was his. Amazingly as a zombie, he knew how to communicate and all the words that an average adult would use. Well not so average since he listened to lyrics all the time, some which were complicated and just moved him. R guessed that listening to albums a few hours a day in his plane helped him stay in touch with communication. It probably even made him prone to missing and wanting the company of a woman since many were love songs. R always felt like he could understand things better than the other zombies that roamed the airport. His good friend M was the only exception.

R paid attention to every picture on the walls on the way because Julie was in them at different ages. _'Wow… that's my Baby,' _he thought to himself. He internally chuckled at calling her baby again so soon after her father looked like his veins may have popped out of his forehead for a split second. Once in the kitchen, Julie said hi to the cook Laura for the second time because she also greeted her when she first got home.

"Hi Julie… What would you like my dear?"

"Oh nothing really Ms. Laura… but thank you. I just came in here to get some fruit. Hopefully I'll get a bigger appetite soon."

"Well… ok." Ms. Laura looked at R. "Would you like something to eat?"

"Oh thank you Mam, but I'm also not that hungry right now, but those bananas and grapes look amazing," he said smiling.

"Please help yourself… and please call me Ms. Laura."

"Oh… Ok Ms. Laura."

R took a few bananas and Julie picked up the grapes and a few apples and put them in a navy blue bowl. R then placed the bananas in the bowl and held it for her. Julie gazed up at him for what felt like a few short seconds but it was actually longer than she realized. R was almost in a trance gazing back down at her and didn't even notice the cook wiping tears from her face beaming. Laura made a soft murmur and it snapped Julie and R out of it. They both turned to look at Laura.

"Awww… don't cry," Julie said in a comforting way.

"I'm just so glad that you're home safe. And my oooh my… the way that you two look at each other. You two… well you just look like you're both… _happy_. And I want you to be happy in this crazy world of ours."

"I am Ms. Laura… and thank you."

"You do know I mean happy in the _googly eyed sense_," she whispered. R and Julie both laughed.

"Yes… I do," Julie said smiling.

Just then Julie realized that it would be hard to hide her true feelings for R as her father got used to him… and the idea of him being more than just someone who brought her home. R was having trouble with that as well by almost calling her Baby. She knew that she would have to let her dad know how she felt soon. Especially because she had no idea how she would be able to sleep without him by her side at night.

Laura handed R two bottles of water and he said thank you and smiled at her. He wondered what his grandmother was like because for some reason Ms. Laura gave him the comfort of family. She was so pleasant and also ok with the fact that he was in love with Julie.

"Have a good night dear… and you too R."

"Thanks," they both said in unison. "You too," Julie added.

"Thanks…. Oh and the Colonel is scheduled to leave sometime tonight. He's conducting drills with new recruits," she said then winked.

Julie giggled. While R was pondering on how amazing the cook was. 'Wow… Laura is cool as shit,' R thought to himself.

In the meantime Julie's father was still in the living room in deep thought sitting in his lounge chair. He was so elated that his daughter was home. To his knowledge he thought that his daughter was still deeply involved with Perry until his death… and that she just lost a great love. He had no clue that they weren't a couple for a while. He started to worry that Julie was going to transfer her affections on to R for the wrong reasons. Out of grief or being lonely. He also knew that people who are rescued develop a sense of admiration that they can confuse easily with being in love. He didn't want his daughter confused and later hurt at the end. He deeply sighed because he didn't even know how to have this conversation with her to make sure that she wasn't doing anything out of trauma. Mr. Grigio also noticed the way that R looked at his daughter. Whatever the case was going to be he felt the need to really get to know R and get in his head to make sure that he was a good man. For all he knew his daughter may have already been intimate with him for whatever reason. The Illusion of love… heartache… or even by slim chance that they really did fall for each other so quickly… and so soon after Perry died. He shook his head no on the last reason. It hast to be admiration or even a mental coping tool. He planned on having a therapist talk to her in a few days after she got settled back in. Her father knew it was a possibility that his ways of teaching her how to deal with death may have been wrong. Or just not normal for the pre epidemic world. When Julie's mother was killed by a zombie he tried his best to prepare her for future pain since it was so common to hear about death. It may not have been the most appropriate way to deal with death, but he thought that he was helping her. Thinking about his late wife and the possibility of losing Julie stirred a deep emotion that he was prepared to block so that he could focus on his job. Mr. Grigo made a big sigh trying to hold back any tears. For him he felt that tears showed a sign of weakness for a man, especially the leader of the compound who had to appear strong and in control all of the time. Only Norah and Kevin saw a glimpse of his emotional side as he worried sick about Julie while she was missing. Mr. Grigo cleared his throat when he heard laughing coming closer to the living room. It actually warmed his heart to hear Julie happy.

Julie and R reached the living room and her father stood up. He was glad that they had some food with them though he would prefer that they had a full meal. But he understood various levels of trauma and knew that it was possible that their nerves couldn't allow them to eat much at that time. He knew that his chief would go all out in the morning to try to feed them well. And if they still refused to eat hearty… he would make them drink protein shakes.

"I'm glad that you're eating something Honey," her father said with a concerned expression.

"Yeah… hopefully I'll want to eat some pancakes and bacon tomorrow. But right now… the thought of that is making me feel ill." Julie sighed.

"Don't worry… you'll be back to eating me out of house in home in no time."

"Daaad," Julie whined a bit embarrassed.

"What… this child can eat. You can't tell... but she can probably eat more than you," he said looking at R.

R chuckled.

"Well one day we may have to have an eating contest," R said.

"You'll be surprised on how much this little one can eat. So R what's your favorite food?"

R was stomped for a moment and didn't know how to answer her father. He didn't remember. He wanted to say pizza since the airport had a run-down pizza place in it with pictures of them all over the wall.

"Pizza… with the works on it," he said confidently.

"Ok. Pizza's good. Are you Italian son?"

Julie quickly internally cringed with all the questions that R was being asked that he had no clue of.

"Yes dad, he's Italian. His last name is Russo. Please, my calves don't want to support my weight anymore. I feel like I weigh a ton." Julie instantly regretted the last name once she thought about it. Her family was mostly Italian and her father may bombard him with Italian related questions. 'Ugg we just need to get upstairs so I can pass out,' she thought to herself.

"Ok... Ok... I'll stop with the twenty questions. You kids need some rest."

Her father leaned over and kissed her on her forehead then she kissed his cheek. Mr. Grigio walked over to R. R didn't know what he was going to do plus his hands were filled with the fruit bowl and bottles of water. Her father placed his hands on R shoulders and gripped them firmly. He looked R directly in his eyes.

"Thank you son," I owe you my life. This is your home as long as you want to be here.

"Thank you Sir," R replied. He felt a sting in his eye ducts as if a tear was going to form.

Julie started to head upstairs and R followed behind her It was a bit surreal to R because he had some of Perry's memories so some parts of the house looked familiar to him. Julie quickly showed R the room that he would be staying in. She purposely chose a room that was on the same floor as her. Julie smirked as she imagined how many nights that they would sneak back and forth to each other's bedroom. Though she was 23 years old she didn't have the privacy that she really wanted since she was highly guarded because of her status. Julie never had the urge to live on her own because she was comfortable living there. Plus her best friend Norah lived down the hallway. Julie showed R her room and they both sat down on her sofa. They finally had some time to be alone after what seemed to be a very long and stressful day.

R held out his arm so that Julie would lie on his chest. They were both a bit tired and Julie wanted to fall asleep in his arms. It was nice to hear R's heart again and to feel the warmth of his body. Julie wished that her father would be ok with allowing R to stay in her room for the entire night. She wasn't comfortable sleeping alone now since she was used to R being close by. But Julie knew that her father was very conservative and allowing a man to sleep in her bed under his roof that wasn't her husband wouldn't be allowed.

"So this will be the first night that we don't get to sleep next to each other since we met," R said.

"I know. Dads not... Well he's not _that_ lenient. "

R kissed her forehead.

"I wish I was making love to you right now," R breathed.

"Me too."

Julie looked around her room with the thought of having a chance to make love to R. She knew that her dad was busy; even better not there at night time. They would be able to find some time to be alone without being interrupted. Julie smiled then started to caress his chest through his shirt. R silently moaned at her touch. Just then as if on cue there was a knock at the door. It startled the both of them.

"Shit," Julie said under her breath. "Who is it?" she called out trying her best not to sound frustrated.

"It's Norah."

R quickly pulled his shirt back down over his stomach. "We will resume this later," Julie said then kissed R quickly. He moved away giving some distance to their bodies since he was practically on top of her. His dick was hard so he tried to use his forearm to hide his bulge as he tried his best to have it go down.

"Come in," Julie called out. Norah opened the door with a smile on her face.

"Hey guys. Sorry to bother you… are you busy?" Julie tried her best to hide her frustration but she knew that Norah missed her too. And talking for an hour before everyone left may not have been enough for her.

"Oh I know you need to rest. Sorry but I just need to hug you again. You know I can be mushy."

"Oh that's ok Norah. I know how mushy you can get," Julie said smiling.

Norah walked over to them and Julie stood up to hug her again. Norah squeezed Julie so hard that she heard a crack in her joints. It only hurt a bit because Julie's muscles were sore, but she didn't show it on her face. Norah looked at R and motioned for him to join in the hug. R stood up and Norah embraced him.

"Thank you so much R for bringing Julie home. She's like my sister. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Norah looked at R's face. She thought she noticed it before when they first came back home but she shrugged it off. Her eyes squinted as she stared at him. She didn't even notice that she was doing it.

"What is it?" Julie asked.

"Ehhhh…. Um… R looks… _'Why the fuck does he look similar to the zombie that took her from the lab?'_ she thought to herself.

Norah was scared shitless that day so her memory was a bit foggy. But as she stared at R's face the similarity was too precise. R was just a cuter cleaner version.

"What… what is it?" R asked.

"Crazy but… wow. R looks something like the zombie that… _took _you."

"Well… Um." Julie started to fidget. This made Norah look at her in a complexed way.

Julie didn't know if it was a good idea to tell Norah now but for some reason her brain decided to spill out all the crazy details. She was used to telling Norah everything under the sun.

"Wa… Well…" Julie stammered.

"What?" Norah asked confused as she looked back and forth between Julie and R.

R's eyes widened as he looked at Julie. He wasn't sure how Norah would take the news or possibly freak out and call the guards that were on duty. Julie glanced at R and gave him a reassuring look. She pulled Norah down to sit on the sofa with her. R's entire body heated up. He was definitely aware that his heart was beating now. It felt like I was going to explode. He wanted to stop Julie… and give everything a little more time.

"Julie," he breathed. Then his face cringed a little. Knowing that she would most likely say it anyway.

"Ok… somebody's gonna tell me what the fucks is going on!" Norah blurted out as she jumped up from the sofa.

"Shhh… calm down," Julie pleaded. "You're going to alert the guards to come in here… for no good reason. Please Norah."

Norah placed her hands on her hips with eye eyes still squinted looking at both of them. She was confused and irritated. '_Why are they both acting so frickn' weird,'_ she thought to herself. _'Oh my God he looks so much like that gross devil that pulled her out of the lab. Am I just over reacting?'_ Norah felt a bit dizzy and sat down beside Julie.

"Ok… Ok… I'm calm. Now please tell me why you're acting like you have the biggest stash of cocaine in the compound hidden in your room somewhere.

"We're not hiding anything Norah. I just need you to promise me to stay calm as I try to explain something extremely… extremely important to you."

Norah folder her arms in front of her and huffed. She had no clue of what her best friend was going to tell her. But she has the most eerie feeling in her stomach. Julie took a big breath and pulled one of Norah's hands away from being crossed in front of her. She held her hand tightly praying that she would not over react.

"Ok," Julie breathed. "You know I love you and will never purposely put you in danger. You trust me right?"

Norah still had a confused look on her face.

"I trust you but you're still scaring the shit out of me. Just _spit it out_."

"Well ok then. Norah… R is the zombie that took me from the lab." Julie said as she braced for her reaction.

"You… you... what!?" Norah said confused as all hell.

"I can't really explain it. Well I'll try my best." Julie took a deep breath. "R was cured. I want to say that it was a miracle… but he changed. He became more human… then his heart started beating."

Norah started rubbing her head. "Just promise me not to freak out ok," Julie pleaded. "We've been talking about a cure for years Norah."

"Oh why does it feel like you're not bull shitting me and this mother fa.. Oh my God… was a _zombie_?"

"Norah… you're a nurse… you've seen cures for all diseases. You've studied numerous of cases in school. Please... I beg you… please have an open mind and listen to me." Julie took a deep breath. "Does R look like he wants to kill us?"

Norah shook her head no back and forth with still crazy expression on her face.

"Isn't R able to talk and walk like a regular person?"

"Well…" she said with her voice slightly trembling.

"Are you calm? Breathe in breathe out ok."

"I… I guess I'm calm. As calm as I can be with a post zombie siting 4 feet away from me?"

R nervously smirked then reached for Julie's hand. He wanted to show Norah that he wasn't a threat. Julie took his hand and closed her eyes for a moment the placed the palm of it on her cheek. She felt herself about to get overwhelmed with emotion because R was so sweet and protected her so many time. She loved him and wanted Norah to understand that he was a miracle and not a threat.

"I will never hurt you," R said in a comforting way. "In fact I've risk my life to save Julie from the other zombies I was with and vowed to do whatever I can to get her home safety."

"So… so… how did you go from The Walking Dead to looking like a… a… GQ model?" Julie and R both softly chuckled. "We have a theory," July said calmly. R started to gently rub Julie's back trying to make sure that she would be relaxed trying to explain. He was willing to jump in at any time. He actually wanted to explain it since he was the one that experienced the pull of wanting her and protecting her… loving her.

"What's… what's… the theory?" Norah asked baffled.

"Well… when R saw me at the lab… something in him changed. I triggered something. All he wanted to do was to protect me. That's why he took me. If the other zombies didn't think that I was turned they would have killed me."

"I'll try to explain," R cut in. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?" Norah's eyes opened wide. Julie figured he was trying to gain her trust and she knew that he wouldn't hurt her so she stood up so that they could change seats. Noah started to bite her nails.

"It's ok. I know this is may be confusing for you… but you have no need to fear me Norah. I'm here trying to explain how we can… change... change _everything_. There's a possible cure to this craziness."

Julie started to absentmindedly rub his back. It may have been a natural reaction to try to have R stay comfortable in such an uncomfortable situation.

"I was… well I was never the normal zombie. Yes I did eat people, but I didn't _want _to. I just had to to survive. I always wanted to feel alive again. I wanted to break free of being cursed. I always wanted more out my life. When I saw Julie… it was like I fell in love with her at first sight. I know that sounds crazy… but it's the only way I can explain it. I had no urge to harm her in any way. I was actually scared for her and didn't want any of the other zombies to come near her to kill her. I knew the only way that I could protect her is to have the other zombies think that she was turned. So I smeared her with blood to mask her smell and had to take her with me."

R paused to give her time to process why he took Julie with him. He was hoping that she understood that it was the only way feasible her could see at the moment. Norah remembered how she was devastated coming back to the compound by herself thinking that Julie was dead. Though she knew that she was safe now… the memory of how she felt was making her slightly tremble.

"So why did you take her so far away… why did it take you so long to come back?" Norah cried. "We all thought that she was dead. We lost so many people that day." Julie started to tear too and wiped her eyes. R noticed that Julie was crying in his peripheral vision and turned to her and kissed the top of her head then held her hand. "I'm so sorry Julie," he whispered." In a sense he was also apologizing for the murder of her ex-boyfriend that he never owned up to. R turned to face Norah.

"I'm so sorry Norah. It was the only way I saw her living. When we go out in packs we always travel back together. They would have found it suspicious and went after her once they caught on. Also, most forget things in a day or so. I planned for her to leave in a few days. I took good care of her… feed her food."

"Food?" Norah cut in.

"Yes… I lived at the airport on a plane. I had water and snacks… and I even went inside the airport to get her can food."

"He really took good care of me Norah," Julie said thick with emotion.

"Oh my God… you were that far… at the _airport_? You walked her all the way there?"

"As I said, it was a long hike or them turning on her trying to kill her. I can't fight off that many by myself."

Julie had a flash back of when R fought off the Bonnies that were chasing them in the parking lot. They were finally escaping but didn't expect the faster ones there. R saved her life and took on creatures that were way quicker than he was. R was her hero. Norah noticed Julie's expression.

"Julie?" Norah called out softly.

"Oh…" _Snif_. "I was just thinking about when R did take on a few Bonnies while we escaping the airport. You were so brave." Sniff. "Thank you so much for being miracle that you are."

"Wait a minute… Bonnies… you fought at Bonnie? Aren't all of them extremely faster than zombies?"

"In general. I had extra motivation though." R tuned to Julie and took her hand. "I promised her that I would protect her and get her home safely."

"Wow," Norah said in awe.

At this point Norah was in complete amazement that R was once a zombie. She accepted the magical spark that made him want to protect her… didn't understand it but accepted it. She was still dumbfounded on how his skin looks practically beautiful.

"Ok… I understand that you felt something when you saw her that… what you say changed you. So how did you go from _Grrrr… I want to eat your brains_ to _Hello would you like to join me for a spot of tea?"_

R quietly laughed.

"The most straight forward theory that we have… besides me falling in love with her… is that me loving something or having someone that cared for me… slowly made me talk better, I wasn't as stiff any more. I started to feel slight temperature changes in my skin." R turned to Julie. "When we were driving to our safe house, I felt a temperature change in my skin but I didn't think much of it."

"Wow…" Julie breathed. "When I bathed you it felt like you were warmer too… I thought that I was imagining things."

"I'm sorry… when you whhhaaauuut?" Norah called out.

Julie giggled

"Let's just say that I helped him wash up once we got to a place where there was a full shower. It wasn't sexual or anything."

"Oooh," Norah said inquisitively._  
_ "The man saved my life," Julie said. "It was the first shower he had and who knows when. I wanted to help him. He was still a bit stiff and… well… I already cared about him then. And would do whatever I could do to help him."

R smiled remembering what happened that night at the house. Julie looked at his smile and it reminded her of one the Polaroid pictures that she took. She had kept it in her jeans once she changed when they arrived at the compound. She didn't want to risk leaving it out and someone finding it and jumping at harsh conclusions about R.

"Here's a pic of us last night," Julie said as she handed it over to Norah.

"Fuuuuck," she said in a low almost manly voice. "This was you _yesterday_? All of this happened in one night?"

"No… not his speech improvement or movement. But yes… his skin and eyes changed in one night."

"Tell me what happened," she said excitedly.

Both R and Julie were happy that Norah slowly lost her negative views on what they were trying to accomplish by explaining his cure or miracle.

"Well Norah," R said. "Being with her for the past few days did something to me. I could see a change in me. The way I spoke… walked… everything was becoming more human. Then one day… my heart just started beating. It was the day that she told me that she loved me. Her love brought me back. That's the only way I can explain it. Slowly being friends with her… and having her see me in a different light… us caring for each other." R sighed. "I love her more than anything and… I will never hurt her. She gave me life." Julie stood up and walked over and sat on the other side of Norah. "There's others like him too Norah," Julie said as she placed her hand on her lap. "Zombies that are capable of being friends. His friend M helped us escape from the airport when other zombies were after us. The cure may just be having one feel like they are _cared for_?" Norah looked from one to the other letting it all soak in. She was a nurse and always had hope for a cure. 'Wow, I thought that the cure would come in a form of an antidote… not _feelings_,' she thought to herself.

"Are you ok?" Julie asked.

"Ye… Yeah I'm cool." A smile broke on Norah's face. "So R is your post zoommmbie boooyfriend," she sang. They all chuckled. "I guess so," Julie answered.

Now that Norah felt completely comfortable with R and knowing that he was a former zombie she had so many additional questions that no one really knew… or were around to see. She bombarded R with question after question about what it was like to be a zombie. "Do zombies shit… Do you sleep… Do you heal? Do yall have sex?" R tried his best to answer all of Norah's questions. It felt like he was being quizzed but he really didn't mind. But when she asked him about his name he paused for a moment and looked a little sad.

"What's wrong?" Norah asked.

"He doesn't remember his full name… only that it started with an _R._ He has no memories of his past life before he became a zombie," Julie explained.

"Fuck… I'm sorry man."

"It's ok."

"Well… have you thought of a name that starts with R that you would want?" Norah asked a bit puzzled. "You could be a Rocco, Ricky, Robert… yeah Robert suits you."

"I kinda like R," Julie said.

"Really?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes… I fell in love with you calling you by that name."

"Wow… Well R it is then." He said proudly. A shiver went down his spine as he recalled Julie moaning his name while they were making love.

Norah glanced back and forth at her best friend and her unexplainable man that she fell in love with. She couldn't believe it. 'I feel like I wanna pinch myself. This is all so surreal… and they look so happy and adorable together. Wow… just imagine if they got married and had kids… what a story they would have to tell,' she thought to herself. Norah wondered if they had already done the deed. It was a burning question that was burning a hole in her brain.

"Sooo... did yall two do it when he was a zombie?" Norah asked with her eyes big.

"Come on Norah," Julie gasped

"Hey… I'm just curious."

Julie smirked.

"Oh Yall nasty freaks!" Norah blurted

"No… we didn't do it when he was a zombie."

"Oh… So you did do it! Bunch of freaks."

R and Julie couldn't help but to laugh.

"Wow… this is something else," Norah said while gazing at them. "You two feel in love."

"Yeah… I love him," Julie said with a love sick gaze into R's grey eyes.

"I'm… I'm happy for you… all you have been through."

R assumed that he knew what Norah was talking about because of the hurt that he saw from Perry's memories when he broke her heart by sleeping with another woman and possibly getting her pregnant. He remembered Perry and Angela arguing about it. He even had a faint memory of Norah cursing Perry out and knew that she couldn't stand him. R decided on not focusing on the bad memories of others. He actually had a hard time remembering all of the memories of his other victims. He figured that was good so that he could start feeling normal again. It still ate away at him that he did kill someone that Julie knew. He wondered if he would tell her soon or ever. R didn't want to lose her over this. Julie passed him a banana that brought him back to the current moment.

"We've been talking so long that we forgot to eat. I think I have an appetite now and want real food."

R chuckled. "I think you're right," he agreed.

"Kitchen raid," Julie called out.

"Hey, I'm not that tired anymore," Julie said. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure," R said. He didn't remember any movies that he saw in his life time… but faintly remembered the ones that Perry did.

"Ok... Well we should go find something. I'm starting to feel like I'm starving," Julie said.

"That may be a good thing Julie… your nerves may be better." R said. She took a deep sigh and shook her head yes.

They all went down stairs to the kitchen and ate a big dinner. Julie watched R in almost amazement as he scarfed down his food. After they all ate then went onto the living room to watch TV. They decided to watch a comedy. Julie and R shared a couch while Norah laid down on the other one. She pulled the throw over herself to get comfortable. R took the throw from off the back of the couch that they were on and wrapped both of them in it. Then kissed the crock of her neck. The large dinner affected them more than they realized it would because all of them got tired in the middle of the movie. Norah dozed off first, then R and Julie's kissed for a while before they rested in each other's arms. It wasn't Julie's initial intention to fall asleep in the living room with R. She knew the proper thing to do was to show R what room he could have. But she didn't want to sleep by herself and she would probably have crazy dreams if she did. Julie wanted R just where he was… snuggled behind her with his hard body pressing against hers.

Shortly she fell asleep anyway because R was rubbing her hair. Then shortly after R dozed off with a tight grip around her waist. They were molded together like a perfect match. R wasn't even aware that his dick was getting hard as he dreamed of when they made love. The sensation pressing up against Julie's ass made her stir a bit in her sleep. Then she heard R moan a soft moan in her ear from his amazing dream. That sent a chill down her spine and her eyes immediately opened. She let out a soft moan too and it made him instinctively grind himself on her. "R," she breathed. He gently woke up and realized how hard he was and pressed himself even deeper on her ass. This time Julie made a moan that was a little bit louder which she didn't expect to do. . Norah was knocked out cold and didn't hear a thing. Plus the movie was on the menu screen and music was playing. It was driving R crazy that he wasn't already deep inside her.

"Oh my God Julie… I want you."

"I want you too."

"Pull down your jeans a bit."

"Baby we can't do it _here_. My dad has posted guards down the hall and he's coming home tonight.

"I just want to play with you," he said in the sexiest voice.

Julie felt a rush of wetness instantly. Oh my god, she softly moaned as she arched her back so her ass was closer to his dick. She felt him rustle behind her as he was unzipping his jeans. "Oh crap,' she thought to herself. 'What kinda will power does this world expect me to have?' R reached in front of her and slowly unzipped her jeans. She quivered next to him as felt his nails gently graze the top of her pussy. He placed his mouth on her neck and started to gently suck and bite it. "I can't take this no more... fuck it," Julie said as she scouted off the sofa.

"I'm sorry," R said apologetically. He feared that the angered her.

"No… I mean we have to go upstairs… we have things to do."

"Oooh," he said excitedly.

Julie pulled her jeans over her hips and reached out her hand for R to take. They looked over at Norah and she was still sleep slightly snoring. R and Julie walked up stairs softly and went to her room. Part of her knew that she could get in all types of trouble with her dad if she got caught, yet the other part had more confidence that she could get away with it and no one would be the wiser. Julie wanted to tell her father sooner that she wanted to live somewhere private with R but she thought that it was wise to give it a few months to have him used to the idea that they were going to be a serious couple. She was 23 and had friends around her age that had their own places on the compound, married, and a few with kids

Once they reached her bedroom R shut the door behind him. Then he started to take her shirt off from over her head. He paused for a moment and just gazed at her with her tasseled hair while she was breathing hard. He looked down at her breast and watched them rise and fall for a few breaths.

"You're beautiful," he breathed.

"You're beautiful."

They both moved towards each other in a great speed. Julie jumped up in his arms as he hungrily groped her ass. She ran her fingers through his hair then decided to wrap her fingers around waves of his hair and slightly griped it. He moaned out of pleasure then decided to return the act by gripping her hair and pulling her hair back. R could feel is pre come coat the tip of his dick and carried her over to her bed.

"Ohhh," Julie moaned as he hovered over top of her.

"I'm going to eat you," he breathed.

"What," she panted.

R moved closer to her ear and whispered again what he wanted to do.

"I'm going to eat you til you come harder than you ever had in your _life._"

"Oh my God… R. Baby don't do that… I can't promise to be quiet.

He groaned knowing that he probably couldn't do all of the things that he wanted to do to her. Julie anticipated the day that she would feel his mouth on her pussy. R started kissing down her stomach and loved how her body shivered when he ran his tongue over her skin.

"Mmmm," she moaned.

"Oh my God you smell so fucking good," he groaned as he kissed and licked closer to her awaiting pussy. Hearing him curse made her walls clinch. "Oh R… Baby... please fuck me."

R tugged her jeans completely off then slowly slid her panties off making sure that his nail would gently scratch her thighs.

"Oohh," she panted.

"Mmmm… I love hearing you moan Baby. It's so fucking sexy."

"I do too."

"Try not to be so loud tonight. I don't want to alarm the guards," he softly chuckled.

"Ok Baby," she said smiling.

R got off of the bed to take all of his clothes off. Julie watched him biting her bottom lip. He swooped down on her and gently tugged at the lip that she was just biting. She could feel this tip of his dick sliding across he clit and she bit his lip back. R pushed himself inside her and she groaned in pleasure and pain. Julie jumped because she thought that she heard something downstairs.

"What is it Baby… Did I hurt you?"

"Shhhh… I heard something."

"Oh," R said nervously.

Then they both heard something that sounded like a door.

"Fuck," R spat.

"_Go… go. That's my dad."_

R kissed her quickly then grabbed his clothes and walked ever so lightly down the hall to his room. He was disappointed that they didn't have a chance to make love. Maybe another day. He put his underwear back on slid under the covers. Without having Julie's father having a clue that they were in the bed together.

Julie's room was closer to the staircase and heard her father talking to Norah. She wondered if she would get any real sleep tonight because she wasn't going to be with R. also she was so sexually frustrated at the moment she wanted to start punching the pillow and flaring her legs like he was having a tantrum. Julie fidgets for what seemed like hours. She was getting a headache. Because she was actually mad that he couldn't be besides R. after another hour of staring out the window she got out of bed and walked down the hall to the room where R was sleeping. She didn't want to scare him. His door was slightly cracked opened. She slowly pushed it open and saw him sit straight up in bed.

"It's me," she whispered.

"Are you ok?"

"No… I can't sleep at all. This is ridiculous. I slept better on the plane with brain eating zombies shuffling yards away from us. I'm in the most protected house in this place and I can't… sleep."

"I'm sorry… I'm also having a hard time sleeping." He chuckled. "It's like I literally only know _real _sleeping when I'm next to you… because I wasn't sleeping before I started to change back."

"We're screwed," she laughed.

Julie walked in the room and sat on the side of the bed. "I need sleep," she groaned. "I'm sorry…but I'm commandeering you bed… and request that you stay my prisoner. I just need to lay beside you. I'll talk to my dada about this tomorrow. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want me to get insomnia." Julie sighed then got under the covers with him. He rubbed her hair for caressed here forehead for a while. In less than twenty minutes she was sound asleep.

19


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note:**

**I just started reading the book Warm Bodies and love it; even more than the movie. My intentions today were to work on the next chapter of this FF but I started to add more to the previous two chapters. I guess you can say that I enhanced a few scenes. **

**It would truly make me giddy, grateful, and make me smile if any of the ghost readers leaves a small review. I'm just curious of what you think about this FF. It's the 1****st**** non twilight FF that I've ever done (though I do plan on doing a True Blood and Sons of Anarchy FF one day) I LOVE those shows.**

**Take care and enjoy your week beautiful people.**

**I love all of my readers **

**Lisa **


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